ubuntu software cntre doers not work

What is the output of:

sudo apt-get update; lsb_release -a

Thanks

Here you go.

ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$ sudo apt-get update; lsb_release -a
[sudo] password for ru12mug-the2nd:
Hit:1 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial InRelease
Get:2 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates InRelease [102 kB]
Hit:3 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:4 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports InRelease [102 kB]
Get:5 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security InRelease [102 kB]
Get:6 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial/main Translation-en_AU [420 kB]
Get:7 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial/restricted Translation-en_AU [2,012 B]
Get:8 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial/universe Translation-en_AU [3,039 kB]
Get:9 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial/multiverse Translation-en_AU [67.7 kB]
Get:10 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main Sources [206 kB]
Get:11 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe Sources [110 kB]
Get:12 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main i386 Packages [420 kB]
Get:13 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main i386 DEP-11 Metadata [293 kB]
Get:14 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [182 kB]
Get:15 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe i386 Packages [362 kB]
Get:16 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe Translation-en [132 kB]
Get:17 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe i386 DEP-11 Metadata [119 kB]
Get:18 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [137 kB]
Get:19 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/multiverse i386 DEP-11 Metadata [2,516 B]
Get:20 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports/main Sources [3,180 B]
Get:21 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports/main i386 Packages [4,400 B]
Get:22 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports/main i386 DEP-11 Metadata [208 B]
Get:23 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports/universe i386 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]
Get:24 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports/multiverse i386 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]
Get:25 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/main i386 DEP-11 Metadata [66.8 kB]
Get:26 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [38.4 kB]
Get:27 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/universe i386 DEP-11 Metadata [19.4 kB]
Get:28 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [25.6 kB]
Get:29 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/multiverse i386 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]
Fetched 5,957 kB in 22s (267 kB/s)
AppStream cache update completed, but some metadata was ignored due to errors.
Reading package lists... Done
N: Ignoring file '20auto-upgrades.ucf-dist' in directory '/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/' as it has an invalid filename extension
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial

Thank you.

Run:

sudo rm /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades.ucf-dist
sudo apt-get update

Is it OK now?

There is a known problem with gnome-software (bug #1606238 )
A suggested workaround is deleting the files in ~/.local/share/gnome-software/

Andrew ,here is the output from your suggestion.

ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$ sudo rm /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades.ucf-dist
rm: cannot remove '/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades.ucf-dist': No such file or directory

Manfred & Andrew:
 Andrews suggestion didn't help, I tried deleting " ~/.local/share/gnome-software/" which seemed to be SQL files but I still have the same result.
I get to see the start of software centre homepage loading and then it all goes back to the previous screen.

There are two different issues:

1. the recommendation to delete the 20auto-upgrades.ucf-dist file was targeted to cater for the warning "N: Ignoring file ... in directory ..- as it has an invalid filename extension" that was shown during the "sudo apt-get update" command.

What output do you get now for the command
sudo apt-get update
?

2. If deleting ~/.local/share/gnome-software/ does not help, what exactly is now happening when you start the command
gnome-software
in a terminal window?

Manfred, here's the result for task 1:

ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$ sudo apt-get update
[sudo] password for ru12mug-the2nd:
Hit:1 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial InRelease
Get:2 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates InRelease [102 kB]
Hit:3 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:4 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports InRelease [102 kB]
Get:5 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security InRelease [102 kB]
Get:6 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main Sources [210 kB]
Get:7 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe Sources [110 kB]
Get:8 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main i386 Packages [428 kB]
Get:9 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main Translation-en [169 kB]
Get:10 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main i386 DEP-11 Metadata [293 kB]
Get:11 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [180 kB]
Get:12 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe i386 Packages [362 kB]
Get:13 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe Translation-en [132 kB]
Get:14 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe i386 DEP-11 Metadata [121 kB]
Get:15 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [145 kB]
Get:16 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/multiverse i386 DEP-11 Metadata [2,516 B]
Get:17 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports/main i386 DEP-11 Metadata [208 B]
Get:18 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports/universe i386 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]
Get:19 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-backports/multiverse i386 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]
Get:20 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/main Sources [52.5 kB]
Get:21 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/universe Sources [14.4 kB]
Get:22 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/main i386 Packages [181 kB]
Get:23 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/main Translation-en [75.9 kB]
Get:24 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/main i386 DEP-11 Metadata [68.1 kB]
Get:25 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [43.1 kB]
Get:26 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/universe i386 Packages [61.8 kB]
Get:27 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/universe Translation-en [34.4 kB]
Get:28 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/universe i386 DEP-11 Metadata [19.4 kB]
Get:29 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [25.6 kB]
Get:30 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-security/multiverse i386 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]
Fetched 3,035 kB in 13s (229 kB/s)
AppStream cache update completed, but some metadata was ignored due to errors.
Reading package lists... Done
ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$

task 2 returned the following:

ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$ gnome-software
ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$

It also generated an error report which I don't know how to copy to send to you.
The final lines of the error report said that I have obsolete packages and that I should replace the following:

gnome software,gnome-software-common,libprocps4,procps

Does this help?
Thank you.

What is the output of

apt-cache policy gnome-software gnome-software-common libprocps4 procps
apt-get --simulate dist-upgrade

apt-cache policy gnome-software gnome-software-common libprocps4 procps gave the following result:

ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$ apt-cache policy gnome-software gnome-software-common libprocps4 procps
gnome-software:
  Installed: 3.20.1+git20160617.1.0440874.ubuntu-xenial-0ubuntu1~16.04.1
  Candidate: 3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1
  Version table:
     3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1 500
        500 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main i386 Packages
 *** 3.20.1+git20160617.1.0440874.ubuntu-xenial-0ubuntu1~16.04.1 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.20.1+git20160420.1.ca63436.ubuntu-xenial-0ubuntu2 500
        500 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial/main i386 Packages
gnome-software-common:
  Installed: 3.20.1+git20160617.1.0440874.ubuntu-xenial-0ubuntu1~16.04.1
  Candidate: 3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1
  Version table:
     3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1 500
        500 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main i386 Packages
 *** 3.20.1+git20160617.1.0440874.ubuntu-xenial-0ubuntu1~16.04.1 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.20.1+git20160420.1.ca63436.ubuntu-xenial-0ubuntu2 500
        500 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial/main i386 Packages
libprocps4:
  Installed: 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2
  Candidate: 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2.2
  Version table:
     2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2.2 500
        500 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main i386 Packages
 *** 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2 500
        500 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
procps:
  Installed: 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2
  Candidate: 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2.2
  Version table:
     2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2.2 500
        500 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates/main i386 Packages
 *** 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2 500
        500 http://mirror.as24220.net/pub/ubuntu-archive xenial/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$

apt-get --simulate dist-upgrade gave this:

ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$ apt-get --simulate dist-upgrade
NOTE: This is only a simulation!
      apt-get needs root privileges for real execution.
      Keep also in mind that locking is deactivated,
      so don't depend on the relevance to the real current situation!
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  calligra-l10n-engb kde-l10n-engb linux-headers-4.4.0-31
  linux-headers-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-4.4.0-31-generic
  linux-image-extra-4.4.0-31-generic
Use 'apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libsnapd-glib1 snapd-login-service
The following packages will be upgraded:
  gnome-software gnome-software-common im-config libprocps4 procps
  ubuntu-software update-notifier update-notifier-common
8 to upgrade, 2 to newly install, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
Inst update-notifier [3.168.1] (3.168.2 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386]) []
Inst update-notifier-common [3.168.1] (3.168.2 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [all])
Inst libprocps4 [2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2] (2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2.2 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Inst procps [2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2] (2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2.2 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Inst ubuntu-software [3.20.1+git20160617.1.0440874.ubuntu-xenial-0ubuntu1~16.04.1] (3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386]) []
Inst gnome-software [3.20.1+git20160617.1.0440874.ubuntu-xenial-0ubuntu1~16.04.1] (3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386]) []
Inst gnome-software-common [3.20.1+git20160617.1.0440874.ubuntu-xenial-0ubuntu1~16.04.1] (3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [all]) []
Inst libsnapd-glib1 (1.2-0ubuntu1.1~xenial Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Inst im-config [0.29-1ubuntu12.2] (0.29-1ubuntu12.3 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [all])
Inst snapd-login-service (1.2-0ubuntu1.1~xenial Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Conf update-notifier-common (3.168.2 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [all])
Conf update-notifier (3.168.2 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Conf libprocps4 (2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2.2 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Conf procps (2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2.2 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Conf gnome-software-common (3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [all])
Conf libsnapd-glib1 (1.2-0ubuntu1.1~xenial Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Conf gnome-software (3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Conf ubuntu-software (3.20.1+git20161013.0.d77d6cf-0ubuntu2~xenial1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
Conf im-config (0.29-1ubuntu12.3 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [all])
Conf snapd-login-service (1.2-0ubuntu1.1~xenial Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates [i386])
ru12mug-the2nd@ru12mugthe2nd-Satellite-L300:~$

Manfred I hope this helps you.

Thank you

Thanks Manfred Hampl, that solved my question.